At a karate tournament, Hazmat loses his match but scores his first date. But as a member of the Recon Academy, this forensics expert has more to worry about than what to wear. The evil Shadow Cell squadron has broken into the city's nuclear power plant. If the Recon Academy doesn't hurry, a massive meltdown might ruin Hazmat's big night.

This book features Hazmat whose special skill is forensics but as we start off he participating in a karate tournament which Emmi has been training him for. They soon receive a call that there has been a security breach at a nearby nuclear power plant. The four member group is on their way and who do they find on the scene but the Shadow Cell. Here they are all put to the test, but Hazmat is put front and centre as he rushes straight into the danger alone where he uses his forensic skills, new found karate moves, faces close death and ends up with a date. A very exciting installment in the series. My son is anxious to read the other two books in the series. Once again though the book is much harder to read than the 1.9 RL would have you believe and with my son's reading level we had to do shared reading, with me also reading the harder words. I enjoyed the way the 'date' was handled. My son is 9 so this idea creeped him out. While the one boy with the date smooth talks about his upcoming evening there is an opposing character who "oh brother's" him all the time adding a comic relief for kids who are younger. This series is very suitable for a wide range of ages and would be perfect for older struggling readers. I'd recommend this right up to Grade 6.

- Action-packed graphic novels with a cool spy school setting - perfect for reluctant readers! - End matter includes a glossary, discussion prompts and additional fascinating spy-themed non-fiction content